The Capulets will be played by black actors and the Montagues by white actors.

WSJ: Bloom, Rashad in Broadway's 'Romeo and Juliet'

For Bernstein, "the Capulets and the Montagues became the Sharks and the Jets, " Hoffman says.

NPR: The Musically Inspiring 'Romeo and Juliet'

The martial-arts flick "Romeo Must Die" updated the Montagues and Capulets into a gang rivalry between blacks and Asians in California.

WSJ: Bloom, Rashad in Broadway's 'Romeo and Juliet'

In Romeo and Juliet, a member of the Capulet family makes a rude hand gesture in the direction of a group of Montagues.

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Over the centuries, the story of the warring Capulets and Montagues has been set in creative ways, whether it's to illustrate the divide between Palestinians and Israelis or competing American pizza parlors.

WSJ: Bloom, Rashad in Broadway's 'Romeo and Juliet'